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Action timeline

August 21, 2007 – The Center petitioned the California Fish and Game Commission to list the five subspecies of American pika occurring in the state as endangered under the California Endangered Species Act.

October 1, 2007 – The Center filed a petition with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list the American pika under the federal Endangered Species Act.

August 19, 2008 – The Center filed two lawsuits — one against the California Fish and Game Commission and one against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service — to compel the agencies to protect the American pika.

February 12, 2009 – The Center reached a settlement with the Service requiring it to assess whether the pika may warrant protection under the Endangered Species Act by May 2009 and, if so, determine whether to designate the species as endangered nine months later.

May 6, 2009 – The Service announced it was launching a full status review to determine whether the pika warrants Endangered Species Act protection.

May 15, 2009 – A Superior Court judge issued a written order invalidating the California Fish and Game Commission’s rejection of the Center’s petition to list pikas under the California Endangered Species Act. The court order sent the state pika petition back to the Commission for reconsideration.

October 28, 2009 – The Center took the California Fish and Game Commission back to court to overturn the Commission’s second decision denying state protection to the pika.

February 4, 2010 – Ignoring science and the law, the Fish and Wildlife Service denied the pika federal Endangered Species Act protection.

October 19, 2010 – A state judge ruled that the California Fish and Game Commission must reconsider whether the American pika may warrant protection under the California Endangered Species Act due to climate change. The ruling marked the second time in two years that the court had faulted the Commission for rejecting the Center for Biological Diversity’s 2007 petition to list the pika as a threatened species.

October 19, 2011 – The California Fish and Game Commission voted to designate the American pika as a “candidate” for protection under the California Endangered Species Act, the first step towards full protection for the species in California.

May 22, 2013 – In response to our 2007 petition, the California Fish and Game Commission voted to deny protection to the American pika under the California Endangered Species Act despite the grave threatsit faces from global warming.